The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM (15:03): I move:

(1)That this House congratulates the President of the Legislative Council, the Hon. Ben Franklin, MLC, and staff on the organisation of "The Spark", the second in a series of seminars at Parliament House that explored the Act that brought the Parliament and the Supreme Court to New South Wales.

(2)That this House notes that "The Spark" was a precursor to a series of events planned for next year to commemorate the bicentenary of the Legislative Council, Australia's oldest Parliament, and the foundation for 200 years of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law.

(3)That this House further notes that:

(a)14 August 2023 is the 200‑year commemoration of the colonial government's declaration of martial law west of the Blue Mountains on the Wiradjuri nation;

(b)Eleven days after the declaration of martial law, the first meeting of the Legislative Council was held on 25 August 1824;

(c)the very first decision of the Legislative Council was to appoint Lieutenant Governor Colonel William Stewart, who was integral to the formation and ultimately led the New South Wales mounted police to enforce British rule on the Wiradjuri nation and Aboriginal nations across the colony; and

(d)it is vitally important to consider the history and context of the Legislative Council's formation at the time of what was openly acknowledged by settlers and government as a period of war or "Gudyarra" against the Wiradjuri people, a war of dispossession and occupation.

(4)That this House calls on the Legislature and the bicentenary organising committee to strongly consider:

(a)the history of the Wiradjuri nation in the Bathurst region be recognised and respected;

(b)the role the Legislative Council played in the administration and oversight of the British Empire's prosecution of the "Gudyarra" or the Wiradjuri war of resistance, and subsequent colonisation of Wiradjuri land be recognised and remembered as an integral part of commemorations;

(c)the previous Government's "support in principle" for recommendation number 17 of the Standing Committee on Social Issues report on the review of the Heritage Act 1977, which states, "That the New South Wales Government allocate specific funding for an Aboriginal war memorial museum and work with Aboriginal people across New South Wales, including traditional owners, to progress this proposal"; and

(d)consult with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders from Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation and Bathurst Regional Council on the funding and establishment of a State significant Wiradjuri cultural and history facility in Bathurst.

On behalf of the Hon. Stephen Lawrence, I move:

(1)That this House notes that:

(a)the bicentenary of the Legislative Council will be celebrated in 2024, marking 200 years since the first sitting of the Legislative Council on 25 August 1824;

(b)1824 was a time of extensive conflict between the new colony of New South Wales and Aboriginal people who were resisting colonial expansion and the occupation and dispossession of their land; and

(c)on 14 August 1824, 11 days before the first meeting of the Legislative Council, such conflict led to martial law being declared in the colony of New South Wales west of the Blue Mountains.

(2)That this House notes that:

(a)the establishment of the Legislative Council was a key recommendation of a commission of inquiry, headed by Commissioner John Thomas Bigge, established by the British Government to carry out a wideranging commission of inquiry into the state of the colony;

(b)the Bigge commission of inquiry took place between 1819 and 1823, with its findings being published in three reports between 1821 and 1823;

(c)the Bigge inquiry also made decisive and far-reaching recommendations related to the expansion of the colony west and the further dispossession of land from Aboriginal people; and

(d)these recommendations were swiftly acted upon and led directly to a war between Aboriginal people and the colonial State west of the Blue Mountains between 1822 and 1824.

(3)That this House notes that in its first sitting the new Legislative Council made a decision to appoint as Lieutenant Governor Colonel William Stewart, a British soldier charged with establishing the mounted police, who were to play a leading role in subsequent punitive actions against Aboriginal people resisting colonial expansion.

(4)That this House notes that the establishment of the Legislative Council is inextricably linked to colonial expansion, war and dispossession, and the legitimate resistance of Aboriginal people.

(5)That this House notes that while the establishment of the Legislative Council is a significant milestone in the development of the colony, it is also therefore a key milestone in the history of the tragic ensuing events, which included the dispossession of Aboriginal people of the land and the enactment of legislation and policies including child removal that collectively constitute a stain on Australia's history.

(6)That this House calls on this Parliament and the bicentenary organising committee to consult with Aboriginal people as to whether and how to prominently recognise this history as an integral part of the upcoming bicentenary events.

It is our great honour today to have Wiradjuri Elders and traditional owners joining us in the President's gallery: Dinawan Dyirribang, Uncle Bill Allen; Yanhadarrambal, Uncle Jade Flynn; Werribee, Aunty Leanna Carr; Uncle Ricky Powell; and other community members. I welcome them. I thank them for their attendance today, for the privilege of their shared wisdom and knowledge, their resilience, their generosity, their culture, and their language, some of which I have the privilege of sharing today. I begin with a Wiradjuri acknowledgement of country:

Yinaa-galang-bu, Gibir-bang,

Ngi-yanhi Gadigal-Garray Eora Ngurambang-gu,

Yindyamarra Gadigal Mayiny Gadigal Ngurambang Murrubun Walumarra Nginha Dhaargun,

Ngiyanhi Nginha Nginyalgir Dhanu,

Yalul-Durru-durru-bu-wulin-Bungu-Bungu.

Ladies, and gentlemen,

We are here in the land of the Gadigal people,

We pay our respects to the Gadigal people the original custodians of this land,

We are glad you are all here. Always, forever more.

Ngiyang-garrang—these speeches—and motions by the Hon. Stephen Lawrence and I remember and recognise the bicentenary of the Gudyarra war on Wiradjuri country in the region we now call Bathurst, Gudyarra‑la Wiradjuri Ngurambang.

These motions call for the Parliament and the bicentenary organising committee to consult with Wiradjuri and Aboriginal peoples to ensure Legislative Council bicentenary celebrations recognise and reflect our shared history, and that the Government consider funding a permanent memorial and cultural history facility in Bathurst. We bring these motions before the House to honour the Wiradjuri people and mark the bicentenary of the Gudyarra, through the lens and in the context of the bicentenary of the formation of this great institution, the New South Wales Legislative Council. We do so because these significant histories are deeply, inextricably intertwined: transpiring contemporaneously, influenced and involving the same crucial actors, on the same country, clearly interdependent. We do so because the Gudyarra is one of the most significant military and foundational stories of New South Wales and, indeed, our nation. We do so to recognise and record the painful truth of our astounding and difficult history.

We do so because the story illustrates the nature and form of the conquest, dispossession, colonisation and government that occurred in this country. This story is of a ferocious and fascinating crucible of colliding civilisations, war, massacre and genocide but also an inspirational story of resistance, resilience and survival. Survival of First Nations and the great Wiradjuri nation, survival of their history, culture, ceremonies and language to the benefit of us all. We do so because these stories, some of them awful, describe the character of events and actions that can be reasonably seen as the progenitor of the terror and injustice which was to follow. And we do so to highlight the hope and humanity that existed then and defines us still.

August 1824 is a doubly important bicentenary because it marks a critical juncture in our history. The Gudyarra, the homeland war of resistance, and the Battle of Bathurst raged. The declaration of martial law on the Wiradjuri by Governor Brisbane was made just 11 days prior to the Legislative Council meeting for the very first time on 25 August—the beginnings of Australia's self-government and, ultimately, representative democracy. The critical extract of the proclamation by Governor Brisbane reads:

... by Experience, it hath been found, that mutual Bloodshed may be stopped by the Use of Arms against the Natives, beyond the ordinary Rule of Law in Time of Peace; and, for this End, Resort to summary Justice has become necessary …

We understand more if we remember the decisions of the first Legislative Council in the context of what was a principal concern to the Governor and the colony at that crucial point in time: the Gudyarra war. Its outcome was of critical importance to the survival of the colony, both militarily and economically. The Governor, the Legislative Council and mercantile Sydney knew the future of the colony depended on the rapid defeat of the Wiradjuri, and occupation and utilisation of their land. AsThe Sydney Gazette reported at the time, the war exposed "the strength and wealth of the colony to destruction."

But how had it come to this? How had this Gudyarra war with the Wiradjuri grown to the point it was an existential threat to the colony? In 1813 the Blue Mountains were crossed by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, who became the first Europeans west of the Great Dividing Range. Blaxland noted at the time that there was enough grassland west "to support the stock of the colony for 30 years". Governor Macquarie moved swiftly, sending George Evans out the same year to survey. He did so with urgency as the best agricultural parts and poor soils of the Sydney Basin had been quickly occupied and were being exhausted by a patrician class of expansionist pastoralists and their growing stock. Mr John Macarthur—whose bust is on the wall behind me—and others were hungry for larger holdings to grow their herds of cattle and sheep that literally fed the colony and fed the colony's growth and trade. Evans reached well beyond his predecessors into Wiradjuri country.

The Wiradjuri of the Bathurst region were and remain the most easterly grouping of the Wiradjuri nation. Their totem was the goanna. The Wiradjuri lived for 40,000 years or more in extended family groups of around 30 men, women and children, moving between different campsites and hunting grounds, travelling for trade, and performing a coherent cycle of ceremonies to honour their ancestors, their dreaming and their relationship with the land. They made periodic journeys throughout the well-watered country around the Wambool river. The Wiradjuri fished from canoes and hunted with spears and nets for ducks, kangaroos, goannas, snakes, lizards, emus, possums, wallabies and waterfowl. Their food supply was plentiful. What Evans witnessed has been described as the "largest estate on earth". There were open grassy woodlands with abundant grasses and permanent pristine rivers running inland south-west and north-west. The park‑like hunting grounds of the Wiradjuri were landscapes crafted carefully and deliberately with fire, culture and knowledge for millennia.

Evans came upon the Wambool and Kalare rivers—now the Macquarie and Lachlan rivers—and beneath the impressive mount that dominated the region, Wahluu—or Mount Panorama to some—were rich alluvial river flats fit for the best cropping. Evans had a peaceful encounter with the traditional owners beneath Bubay Wahluu, now Mount Stewart. He found a group of women and children on the banks of the Wambool, which was a deep, clear, meandering fish-filled waterway. Evans gave them fishhooks, twine and a tomahawk. That was the first recorded interaction between whites and the Wiradjuri.

Evans gave such encouraging reports of the plains and pastures that Macquarie immediately decided to build a road over the mountains. In 1814 William Cox, with a team of 30 convicts and eight British soldiers, built Macquarie's 100-mile road in six months. The Governor traversed the road in April 1815 before raising the British flag on 7 May, watched by seven bemused Aboriginal males. Macquarie named Bathurst, Australia's first inland colonial settlement, after the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst. Soon land grants were made and large cattle and sheep herds were moved by convict stockkeepers over the range into the hunting grounds of the Wiradjuri. The Wiradjuri tolerated the encroachment and the peace generally held. Bathurst was garrisoned with troopers and convicts, but settlement grew slowly.

In 1819 John Bigge was appointed a special commissioner to examine the government of the colony of New South Wales by Lord Bathurst. His brief was to determine how far the colony of New South Wales could be "made adequate to the objects of its original institution", which were understood to be purely a penal colony. He was to come to Australia to investigate all aspects of the colonial government, including the finances, the church and the judiciary, the convict system and, most importantly, the prospects for trade and agriculture. Bigge travelled to Bathurst and his reports confirmed what explorers Evans, Oxley and others had seen—that the impressive and fertile river valleys could support vast herds of stock and the profitability of immense agricultural enterprises.

The Bigge commission and reports led in part to the decision by the British to create self-government, a judiciary and a territorial expansion west. The colony was worth keeping. When Governor Macquarie was replaced by Brisbane in 1821, the rate of the land grants, cattle herds and invasion west of the Blue Mountains accelerated, and the tension grew. Homestead buildings and stockyards were sometimes built indiscriminately, often on land sacred to the Wiradjuri. Ceremonial grounds were destroyed. Despite Wiradjuri retiring away in part before the unending expansion, the arrivals led to increasing and more violent conflict with convicts and shepherds. In a cycle that grew, traditional food sources became overrun by cattle. Resisting and hungry Aboriginal people speared and sometimes ate stock. Shepherds who confronted and attacked them were murdered and a pattern of retribution and disproportionate reprisal that had characterised the colony continued.The Sydney Gazette stated:

Advices from Bathurst say that the natives have been very troublesome in the country. Numbers of cattle have been killed. In justification of their conduct, the natives urge that the white men have driven away all the kangaroos and opossums, and the black men must now have beef!

In 1822 the Wiradjuri attacked a station on the Cudgegong River in which they drove away the convict stockkeeper, let the cattle out of the yard and killed several sheep. More attacks followed, some in reprisal for maltreatment of Aboriginal women. As Lawson noted at the time in reference to the attacks, "There must be some provocation." In 1823 the valuable government stockyards at Swallow Creek were attacked and then abandoned in fear. Stockkeepers were terrified and would not leave their huts to muster. A correspondent toThe Sydney Gazette reported:

The natives are assembled in a body to the number of six or seven hundred proclaiming aloud their hostile intent.

At the same time, settlers had used arsenic-laced flour and damper to poison hungry Aboriginal families. Later that year, Windradyne—the Wiradjuri's head warrior, known to the colonists as Saturday—who was leading his nation's war parties, was captured and imprisoned for a month.The Sydney Gazette stated:

He is one of the finest looking natives we have seen in this part of the country. He is not particularly tall, but is much stouter and more proportionably limbed than the majority of his countrymen; which, combined with a noble looking countenance, and piercing eye, are calculated to impress the beholder with other than disagreeable feelings toward a character who has been so much dreaded by the Bathurst settler.

In early 1824 Windradyne's wife, Warrama, his eldest son, Murrabri, two nieces and his mother-in-law were killed in a massacre that was called the Potato Field Incident near Bathurst. After a meeting of Elders and lengthy discussions, decisions were made that Gibun, the act of carrying out payback, would occur. Windradyne and the Wiradjuri told each other and the colonists that they would kill or "tumble down white fella". North and south of Bathurst the frequency of violent attacks and reprisals worsened. Surprise revenge attacks by the Wiradjuri occurred regularly. Those attacks included men being speared, weapons being stolen, buildings being burned and livestock being killed. The settlers followed by murdering any Wiradjuri they could locate.

After the declaration of martial law in August 1824, a detachment of the 40th Regiment of Foot was rushed to Bathurst. Together with armed militia they continued murdering and massacring Wiradjuri groups and individuals, killing everyone on sight, including the elderly, women and children. The Battle of Bathurst began on 10 September 1824, when a Wiradjuri war party attacked a station on the Cudgegong River. They drove off cattle before being pursued by station hands. In an ambush the station hands were chased back and in the retreat three Wiradjuri warriors were shot dead. The following day the station hands returned to where the war party was camped and burying their dead, and fired, killing 16 and wounding many more.

At the outset of martial law, the Wiradjuri were informed that the war against them would continue until their leadership were given up. Large numbers of Wiradjuri surrendered in the face of the violence. In December 1824 Windradyne surrendered in Parramatta and the declaration was repealed. Scores of colonists lost their lives and thousands of Wiradjuri were killed or displaced in the Gudyarra. In that month, Governor Brisbane wrote to Major James Thomas Morisset, military commandant at Bathurst, to thank him for effecting "the purpose of the declaration … by the judicious measures taken by you ... the Aboriginal natives have learned to respect our power".

That brings me back to August 1824. As we recognise and celebrate 200 years since the Legislative Council sat for the first time on 25 August 1824, I argue that, when we reflect on the past and the history of our House generally, we would understand more if we consider the formation and decisions of the first Legislative Council in the context of what was of principal concern at the time—war and survival. The colony had not been a flourishing success and its future was not assured. It was a corrupt and nepotistic penal colony wracked with crime, violence, alcohol, social division and starvation. As Robert Hughes described it inThe Fatal Shore:

… a tiny outpost, racked with hunger and scurvy, clinging to the edge of a continent.

As I have laid out, the Gudyarra war and expansion of the colony and its vital herds of stock into Wiradjuri land were of critical importance militarily, economically and politically. Established under the New South Wales Act 1823, a small, four-member appointed Legislative Council, comprising the colonial secretary, the chief justice, the surveyor general and the principal surgeon, began meeting to advise the Governor. I argue that much can be garnered from what occupied the mind and agenda of first councillors and instructed the actions they subsequently took.

The Council's very first act, recorded in the minutes of its very first meeting, was the appointment of Major‑General William Stewart as the fifth member of the Council and Lieutenant Governor. Stewart was a successful and decorated soldier from the highest echelon of the enormous and globally ascendent British military—an army and navy that carved an unprecedented and unmatched empire into every continent with sail, cannon and bloodied bayonet. Stewart suppressed slave revolts in the West Indies and fought First Nations in Canada. He served with Lord Wellington in Portugal and was wounded at Waterloo. He was a veteran, a professional killer and nothing if not a war horse. He was the man for the empire's and Council's job.

On the basis of the Legislative Council's Rossi report into the need for a mobile police force, Stewart would quickly oversee the creation of a highly mobile, well-resourced police, which he was to head. By 1825 the NSW Mounted Police Unit—or, as it was known, Stewart's Police—was operational, comprising the colony's best soldiers armed with the best equipment and rifles. The unit was personally led by Stewart into the west and garrisoned at Bathurst in the heart of Wiradjuri country. This was Britain's, the Governor's and the Council's geopolitical and military strategy, designed to confront, control, dispossess and occupy land.

It was a fast-moving tactical formation created to undertake the suppression of the First Nations warriors and guerrilla resistance—a ruthless and well-designed modality of mass conquest born out of the terrible horror and bloody conflicts of the recent Napoleonic wars and wars of British imperialism. The atrocious tone of the conquest that would move through Wiradjuri, Wongaibon, Gamilaarajt and all the First Nations of this land for more than a century was set—a genocidal discord and deadly tide of conquest that would leave echoes of gunshot and bones in every corner of what is now Australia.

And what of Windradyne and Stewart? The former died in 1829 and was buried on the Brucedale property of the Suttor family—the Suttors of this House—outside Bathurst. He befriended a young William Henry Suttor, who learned the Wiradjuri language of the fierce chieftain. Suttor and his son Francis would later become Legislative Councillors. Windradyne's grave is marked and still tended by the local Aboriginal community and Suttor family.

In reward for his suppression of the Wiradjuri and murderous work of the mounted police, incoming Governor Darling in 1826 granted Stewart a right to stand on the summit of Mount Pleasant at the edge of Bathurst and declare his right to "all the land he could see". Stewart did so, and his property, Strath, made his family immensely wealthy. The imposing Abercrombie House was built and still stands on the grounds. In April 1854, Stewart died. He is buried beneath a huge plinth which was erected on the mount behind his property. As a stonemason working in the Central West in the 1990s, I visited the tomb, which is hauntingly derelict, unvisited and unremembered.

It is time to gari yala—speak the truth. It is time for dhuuluu-yala—straight talk. Aboriginal sovereignty over Australia has never been ceded by the First Peoples. The nation of Australia exists based originally on the false doctrine of terra nullius. That legal fiction was overturned in the High Court's 1992 Mabo judgement—that historic judgement is another in the continuing acts of resistance by Aboriginal people that stretch from 1788 to today. Owning, as a nation, the truth of our history by breaking the great Australian silence, by listening, recording, sharing and memorialising the stories that respect the memory of the fallen—both black and white—are key ways we can move forward to a place of justice, equity, forgiveness and healing for all, recognising the paths to our future pass through the pains of our past. I commend the motions to the House.

The PRESIDENT: I welcome to the gallery the Hon. David Harris, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

The Hon. STEPHEN LAWRENCE (15:22): I speak in support of both of the motions, including the one in my name that was moved by the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham. I firstly acknowledge the presence in the gallery of Wiradjuri Aboriginal people from the Central West, who you so warmly welcomed, Mr President. They are descendants of a people dispossessed of their land, murdered in great numbers and subjected to a range of oppressive State policies, yet they survive and seek to assert their rights, their history and their group aspirations as a people. This morning Minister David Harris and I attended a meeting with them where some of those aspirations were discussed. They want their history to be recognised and told as we celebrate 200 years of Parliament in New South Wales. I believe all Australians owe it to Aboriginal people, and to our country, to engage honestly with our history, and to do it individually and systematically. From that, much can flow. The bicentennial of our Parliament is a great opportunity.

The first action of the new Council in 1824 was to appoint to high office William Stewart—a man who would go on to establish and lead the first police force, the mounted police. The mounted police would go on to play a key role in the murder, repression and dispossession of Aboriginal people. The establishment of the Council was a recommendation of a wideranging report into the state of the then colony carried out by Commissioner John Thomas Bigge. The report was published in three parts between 1819 and 1821 and also recommended the opening up of the lands of the Central West—the Bathurst Plains. That occurred, and Aboriginal people resisted—like anyone would if an invader arrived, without consent or treaty, and took and took and took. We can hardly put a value on the land we ultimately took from the Wiradjuri in the nineteenth century. Think of the farming, the mining, the housing and so on. It runs surely into trillions of dollars.

Many of their descendants, and the descendants of other Aboriginal peoples, live in towns across regional New South Wales, often—but not always—in poor public housing communities, with higher rates of ill-health, poor education and extreme rates of child removal and incarceration. Their lives continue to be shaped by past mass atrocities, by assimilation and paternalism, and by the sharp and rapid changes in social policy that started to occur in the 1960s—in the same way that all lives are shaped by intergenerational influences. In Australia, we now pride ourselves on being race neutral and have different views and perspectives on the relevance of group identities, yet no-one could deny we have long had a racially defined underclass in Australia. Our history is all around us. It continues to shape the present.

By 1823, outstations in the Central West were being raided by Aboriginal warriors. Sheep and cattle were being taken or destroyed, and stockmen killed. After a massacre on the banks of the Wambool or Macquarie River where some of his family members were killed, the warrior Windradyne began a war—a gudyarra—against the whites. By 14 August 1824, such conflict led to Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane declaring martial law "west of Mount York". This was the first time that martial law had been declared against an uprising by Aboriginal people in the colony. Stephen Gapps, an eminent historian, has written a book about the conflict:Gudyarra. I urge everyone to read it. Stephen drew my attention to a contemporary historical account by William Suttor, a pastoralist and member of the Legislative Council between 1843 and 1854. The statue to my right depicts either his son or grandson. The book isAustralian Stories Retold and Sketches of Country Life, where William Suttor wrote:

The proclamation of martial law was undecipherable to them as an Egyptian hieroglyph. This mattered little to the whites—the fiat had gone forth and must be acted upon. So a party of soldiers was despatched to deal with those at this camp. Negotiations, apparently friendly, but really treacherous, were entered into. Food was prepared, and was placed on the ground within musket range of the station buildings. The blacks were invited to come for it. Unsuspectingly they did come, principally women and children. As they gathered up the white men's presents they were shot down by a brutal volley, without regard to age or sex.

William Suttor's family still lives on their property, Brucedale, and David Suttor showed me Windradyne's grave on Saturday—a beautiful and solemn place. It sits in private land, but the heritage authorities have assisted to install signage. More work is needed, including to allow bus groups and the like to access the site.

Bathurst Mayor Jess Jennings, who I note is present in the gallery today, also escorted me to the site. Mayor Jennings has been a champion of recognising the important history that the motions seek to raise for the consideration of members of the community and in how we mark the bicentenary of the Parliament. In my view, we need to do so as members because there is an intimate connection between, firstly, the establishment of the Parliament; secondly, the expansion of the colony which brought with it land theft, conflict and mass atrocity; and, thirdly, the martial law declaration of 1824.

Each of those three things could not and would not have happened without the other. That understanding disrupts a fictional narrative that persists in this country that European settlement was compassionate and benign and, if violent at times, unavoidably so and in accordance with the standards of the time. A recent book by David Marr in fact recounts the diversity of views being expressed in the Sydney press at the time. Some of the darkest episodes in our history were harshly judged by people at the time. The fact is our colony and, indeed, this place were responsible for extreme and unacceptable brutal frontier violence against our Indigenous peoples that even shocked people of the time. Huge numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were killed defending their lands, many through the use of cold steel or poison, or as a consequence of illness and depravity inflicted through war.

The violence had started long before the declaration of martial law in 1824. The Australian Museum estimates that pre-European invasion in 1788, approximately 750,000 Indigenous people from 700 language groups inhabited the land mass that is Australia. While estimates vary, it is now clear the wars across the continent would ultimately claim more Indigenous lives than the 62,000 Australian soldiers who died in the First World War. Indeed, one detailed study that extrapolated from native police records estimated that 60,000 Aboriginal people were killed in such wars in Queensland alone. No-one who has read books like Stephen Gapps'Gudyarra and David Marr's recent bookKilling for Country would doubt those estimates.

By Federation in 1901, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population dwindled to approximately 117,000. Attacks became more lethal over time, with the common motive reprisal for the killing of settler civilians and the killing or taking of livestock or property. As Stephen Gapps identifies, the war against the colonists during 1824 would not have destroyed the entire colony, but it was a serious moment that forced military intervention and provoked settler vengeance. He concludes that it is a travesty to not remember this period of Wiradjuri resistance as a war in our history. Yet the reality is that it has not been commemorated as such by non-Indigenous people today and bears no mention at the Australian War Memorial, our central institution for truth-telling about war.

A significant amount of truth-telling needs to occur, and I believe that we require permanent institutions to tell these stories in an ongoing manner. These institutions would serve a range of societal purposes. First and foremost, they would provide a permanent ongoing source of truth-telling. Aboriginal people, leaders and communities in New South Wales and across Australia have consistently emphasised the centrality of truth-telling to all Australians and understanding a full account of our shared history. Healing is not possible without acknowledging the truth of our shared history and the continuing impact of past practices.

Such institutions would also create employment opportunities. Visitors within and to Australia crave contact with and understanding of Aboriginal people and the at times brutal but fundamentally interesting history of this country. I have no doubt a frontiers wars museum in a place like Bathurst would quickly become a famous and successful institution. A range of Aboriginal businesses could work out of it. It would employ Aboriginal people and fulfill their legitimate aspirations for truth-telling and economic independence. As duty MLC for Bathurst, I also acknowledge the current 9th Earl Bathurst, with whom the Bathurst Regional Council has a strong relationship and who has made his family archives available for this important historical work. I also recognise the key role for local government to play in facilitating access to historical records for members of the community seeking to explore their history and their community's history. I seek an extension of one minute.

Leave granted.

The Hon. STEPHEN LAWRENCE: I note a couple of things in conclusion. The New South Wales Government has made a commitment to a 12-month consultation process with Aboriginal communities on treaty, with $5 million worth of funding confirmed in the recent budget. Truth-telling will be a critical part of such a process. A concerted effort is going on in Bathurst by Aboriginal people, including a wonderful Elders group, to highlight that 200 years are being marked since the declaration of martial law. This, in turn, means also recognising 200 years of resistance and survival of the Wiradjuri people in the Central West.

A series of community events will focus on the legacies of the Bathurst War. On 14 August 2024 the community of Bathurst are hosting a conference at Charles Sturt University entitledDhuluny 1824-2024: 200 years of Wiradjuri Resistance. The meaning of Dhuluny is truth; a rectitude that is direct, straight, living or gospel. Lastly, I thank my colleague the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham, who sparked in me a real and deeper interest in the history that is the subject of these motions. I was honoured to become part of the process that has led to these motions. I hope they will significantly influence the way that the bicentennial commemoration events are conceived, prepared and carried out.

The Hon. SARAH MITCHELL (15:33): On behalf of the Opposition, I speak in support of the motions of the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham and the Hon. Stephen Lawrence. I acknowledge the guests from the Wiradjuri nation, who are in the President's gallery. They are very welcome. We are certainly appreciative of their input, particularly for the two members whose motions we are debating today. I do not want to go too much into the history; I think that was done very well by the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham in his contribution. It is important that we have these discussions and that motions are debated in the upper House, particularly when there is support from all sides about recognising the complex history of our Parliament and of our nation. We must have sensitive and sensible discussions about these matters. I hope what we are seeing today is what I think is the best of this Parliament when we can agree on something important.

We also need to acknowledge the disproportionate suffering of First Nations people and the impact that it had at the time and still has to this day. As I was doing research for this debate, I was most interested to find how little I knew about things that I thought I was aware of, particularly having been the Aboriginal affairs Minister in New South Wales for a couple of years. I have spent time travelling in many areas of the State, working closely with Aboriginal Elders, but I was not fully across the specifics and the detail of what had happened in the Bathurst area. I think that goes to the point of the motions, which the Hon. Stephen Lawrence spoke about in his contribution, about having a cultural centre—a memorial—where these stories can be told and be shared not just within the Indigenous community but with all Australians and international visitors. I think that is a sensible suggestion. Knowing that the Minister has been here—I am sure that he is listening eagerly—I am sure he will also be supportive of it.

I make a point about consultation with Wiradjuri Elders concerning the establishment of that State significant cultural and history facility in Bathurst and an involvement in the upcoming bicentenary of this Parliament. The motion of the Hon. Stephen Lawrence calls for the Parliament to engage with Aboriginal people as to how this history should be recognised as part of the upcoming bicentenary commemorative events. It is important, because if we ignore history, we are denying what has happened. We must make sure that we are open and honest in our transactions in this Parliament and with the community. This Parliament is at its best when it genuinely engages with those who have been impacted by decisions that were made in recent times or in the past.

During my time as Minister, I saw the Parliament work incredibly well with Aboriginal Elders when we introduced the Aboriginal Languages Act. Members in this House were present at the time and I am sure other members would have heard about it. In his absence, I acknowledge the Hon. Mick Veitch, a former member and member of the Labor Party, who was very much involved in that process. Elders stood in this Chamber—a space that is normally reserved only for elected members of Parliament and their staff—and spoke in their language, with the full support of all elected members in this place, to recognise the importance of language, the previous oppression and the support that must be in place to reawaken language. It was a powerful day.

Members will see the message stick in the cabinet to my right. It has a permanent place in this Chamber. It is brought out and placed on the table during the opening of Parliament and other events. The presentation of the message stick was incredibly powerful and symbolic—a recognition of the fact that the decisions we make in this place and the impacts that those decisions have on First Nations people must be front of mind, particularly when we are dealing with important issues that have an impact on our Aboriginal communities.

I have seen firsthand how well this Parliament engages. We achieve the best outcomes when we have genuine consultation, particularly with Aboriginal Elders, with regard to these challenging and confronting events. We cannot deny that. Some of the stories of what happened, particularly during that period of martial law, are horrific. They are confronting. But it is important that those stories are told through motions that we are debating today, through the establishment of an appropriate cultural and historical facility in Bathurst and through engagement as we commemorate the bicentenary of this Chamber. We cannot ignore the past, but we can learn from it. The more that we can educate people—members in this Chamber, people outside and the next generation—about our shared and complex history of this State, the better off we will be with regard to future decision-making. I thank the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham and the Hon. Stephen Lawrence for their motions. On behalf of the Opposition, I offer my support for these motions.

The Hon. MARK LATHAM (15:38): It is always good to have a debate about Australian history in this Chamber. Knowing that this debate was coming up on theNotice Paper, I naturally reached for the bible: Manning Clark'sA History of Australia. No-one, particularly from the left side of politics, can dispute the greatness of Manning Clark, who was idolised by Whitlam and others through the 1980s, 1990s and beyond. I always find these debates curious. It is almost like no-one ever wrote an accurate history of Australia. Well, you cannot quibble with Manning Clark, who, over six volumes and 2,000 pages, is as reliable and great a historian as this country will ever see. It is fascinating to read what he regarded as the main event in the colony in July and August of 1824. He thought it was the return to Sydney of W.C. Wentworth, explorer, statesman and politician, who was a great advocate of self‑government and probably the father of Australian identity.

At page 51 of his second volume of our history, Manning Clark wraps the return of Wentworth into the establishment of the Legislative Council. Of Governor Brisbane and the events of 1824, he writes:

On 25 August, one month after Wentworth had stepped ashore from the Alfred, the first session of the Legislative Council began in the Court House in Sydney. Neither Brisbane nor the members lingered over the significance of the occasion. Brisbane asked them whether they wished to proceed in the absence of the Lieutenant‑Governor, and when they replied in the affirmative, he announced that as there was no further business the Council stood adjourned.

After 200 years, haven't we come full circle? Under the Minns Government we adjourn now at six o'clock on a Tuesday and four o'clock on a Thursday, with no further business to be transacted—although we do all that in the absence of great men like W.C. Wentworth. It is also interesting to note, in the argument about not ignoring history, whose history it is. Manning Clark records that there was a war on the frontier with the Indigenous, but he writes that it was in Van Diemen's Land, not New South Wales. Like the war memorial, the great Manning Clark makes no mention of the events that these motions address. We need to put them in perspective. The bicentenary of this House needs to be about the Legislative Council.

Are we going to have bicentennial events about the return of W.C. Wentworth to Sydney? I hope not because, while he was a very great man, that is not part of the bicentenary of this House. If there are separate events for a bicentenary relating to the subject of the motions, the Wiradjuri people, that is well and good. I for one—and I know there are other members who feel the same way—will not participate in events that are writing in Aboriginal content purely for the sake of imposing the woke agenda of 2024 on the historical record of 1824. We use the word ''inclusive" a lot; the bicentennial occasions need to be "inclusive". I do not think you can wrap everything that was happening in the colony in July and August of 1824—some things claimed and others factually recorded by Manning Clark—into the celebrations. It is an extrapolation and a hyperbole that I think does no justice to this House and the real purpose of our bicentenary.

I will make one cheeky comment in closing. The colony needed to move west of the Great Dividing Range and Wentworth himself, as a younger man, had established the route across the Blue Mountains. They needed to do it to have crops and feed themselves. I am sure there are crops in the west now that the honourable member and leader of the cannabis party could reflect on. I do not see any of those farms ever returned to Indigenous people. But cropping was the main purpose of moving west of the Great Dividing Range. Of course there was conflict. It was mentioned by Robert Hughes, who gives one sentence to those events inThe Fatal Shore, essentially to say, "Yes, there were conflicts, some of them unnecessary, all of them tragic but essentially to be regarded as local law-and-order skirmishes rather than an organised war." So whose history do we believe? Do we believe the comments of MLCs in this Chamber today or the great Manning Clark? I am sticking with Manning Clark.

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (15:43): I commend the motions moved by the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham and the Hon. Stephen Lawrence, which state that the bicentenary committee should consider recognising the Aboriginal people of New South Wales as part of the bicentenary celebrations of this House. I, too, welcome the people from the Wiradjuri nation in the gallery today. I thank them for coming. The committee should consider, in particular, the role the Legislative Council played in the administration and oversight of the British Empire's prosecution of the Wiradjuri war of resistance and the subsequent colonisation of the Wiradjuri. Given there was a declaration of war against the Wiradjuri 200 years ago, it is appropriate that the bicentenary committee recognise and remember Wiradjuri land as an integral part of the commemorations.

The history of the Wiradjuri nation in the Bathurst region should be recognised and respected. As we have heard today, on 14 August this year it will have been 200 years to the day since the colonial government's declaration of martial law west of the Blue Mountains. It is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge the First Peoples of this country and their continued connection to the land, mountains, waters and seas. The previous Government supported the idea of an Aboriginal war memorial museum. We should now work with Aboriginal people across New South Wales, including traditional owners, to progress the proposal. In many ways it is the perfect time to consult with Wiradjuri Elders, knowledge‑holders from the Wiradjuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation and the Bathurst Regional Council to establish a significant cultural and history facility in Bathurst.

This is not about rehashing a dark history. Nor is it about rewriting history or cleansing the past. It is quite the opposite. It is about using the bicentenary as an opportunity to acknowledge a significant event in the history of this State and honouring those from both sides who lost their lives. The foundation of the Parliament of New South Wales on 25 August 1824 was preceded by the declaration of martial law at Bathurst on 14 August that year. The Bathurst War of 1824 was one of the most brutal massacres in Australian history. It was caused by a dispute over land rights on the Bathurst plains, with the European settlers wanting to expand their territory at the expense of the local Indigenous people. We will never know how many Indigenous Australians of the Wiradjuri nation were killed or wounded. The violence was so severe that the area around Bathurst was declared off limits to Indigenous people for almost 30 years. We cannot help what happened in the past, nor can we change it. But we can acknowledge it and the bicentenary of this place is the proper and appropriate time to do that.

The Hon. CAMERON MURPHY (15:47): I offer my strong support for these motions. I acknowledge our Wiradjuri guests in the gallery today and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. It is crucial that we acknowledge our nation's and our State's colonial history in all things that we do. That is even more pressing when it comes to the history of this place. One of the very first acts of the Legislative Council in 1824 was to charge Colonel William Stewart with the establishment of the mounted police, which played a key role in the violent oppression of Aboriginal people resisting colonial expansion in New South Wales, particularly in the then ongoing Bathurst War—what should now be called the First Wiradjuri War of Resistance.

We should never forget that when we come to this place. The horrors of colonisation are not merely a coincidence or a by-product of our current system of government; they are the very reason we are in this Chamber today. The existence of this House is inextricably linked with the systematic oppression and killing of Aboriginal people in our past. It is for that reason that I am disappointed by the current program of the bicentennial celebration conducted by this Parliament, as well as those of other parliaments. Of course, it is appropriate to acknowledge the work of those who built our modern democracy, but we must be very careful not to glorify or sanitise the process of colonisation.

There has been little acknowledgement in these celebrations of the devastating effects colonisation had on the First Nations people of Sydney and New South Wales. I am sure it is not by design, but there has been a tendency in these celebrations to idealise some aspects of the colonial project while glossing over or even outright ignoring things such as this Chamber's role in the First Wiradjuri War of Resistance. For example, the slogan of the bicentennial celebration is "200 years of democracy". This outright erases the more than 60,000 years of history of collective decision‑making that came before it.

Professor Frank Bongiorno from the Australian National University argues that the establishment of the Legislative Council "was intended to provide some legislative cover for the Governor's actions in the face of criticism. It was not intended to build a pillar for democracy." He argues for the recognition of democratic decision‑making practices that existed well before the establishment of this Chamber in 1824 or even the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. We have a long and proud history to speak of and celebrate when we consider democracy in Australia, one that predates the formation of this Chamber and deserves to be told and recognised alongside its relatively short history.

In another example, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which is also celebrating its bicentenary this year, has been invited to produce a book, a permanent exhibition and a lecture series as part of its celebrations. Showcasing the role of the courts and legal system in Sydney's early colony is all well and good. The materials highlighted, however, ignore the long‑term—and ongoing—role that the court and the justice system have played in the oppression, dispossession and institutionalisation of First Nations people in New South Wales.

Just a couple of hours ago, right next door in the Jubilee Room, I and many other members in this Chamber attended the launch of theAlternatives to Incarceration in New South Wales report by the Justice Reform Initiative. First Nations people spoke about the harm the justice system has done to them and their communities and the ways government and community can work together to begin to change this, yet we are putting on a bicentennial celebration that glorifies the court and that very system. In my view, it is simply wrong to acknowledge the contributions of convict settlers—many of whom, such as my relatives from Ireland, were subject to transportation for simply seeking to assert their rights to self-determination—without also acknowledging the extreme denial of rights and violence Aboriginal people were subjected to in the same period.

To pretend that inhumane decisions were not made as part of the establishment of this place is to deny reality and portray a false view of history. In my view, the bicentennial celebrations thus far have been shamefully one sided and do not represent the full truth of our past. While good work has been done to recognise one part of our history, we must also find ways to acknowledge our history from all perspectives, learn from our mistakes and invite First Nations people to meaningfully participate as a springboard to reform for the next 200 years. We cannot do this until we own the uncomfortable truth about the history of our State and of this place. For those reasons, I commend the motions to the Chamber.

Ms SUE HIGGINSON (15:53): On behalf of The Greens, I indicate that we support the motions. We support the Wiradjuri project of the cultural centre museum—if that is what the Wiradjuri people want. I too acknowledge the wonderful guests in the Chamber today, the Wiradjuri people, and pay my respects to all Elders past, present and emerging. Earlier this morning I was fortunate to meet the women in a place where we women do business. I had a brief chat with them about the things I would like to contribute to this debate. We have been told a history of truth regarding genocidal policies, martial law and gross exploitation. However, today we see the strength, resistance and survival of these people, which is something that we celebrate.

I acknowledge the continuing truth. There are still gross policies, there is still abuse and, on many levels, there is still a war on First Nations people in this State. The truth needs to be told now. We see it with proactive policing, where First Nations people are targeted and grossly over-represented. It is causing pain, trauma and death. We are still seeing the forced removal of children. In this place we have celebrated the apology to the Stolen Generation, yet we continue those policies. They are the policies we make in this place and uphold every day. As we celebrate a bicentenary and we tell truth—as we look to the past and say, "We can't do anything about the past but we can do something about the future"—we need to be honest about what it is we are continuing right here and right now. We do not have allocated positions in this Parliament for First Nations people. The Wiradjuri people are sitting in the President's gallery while I am standing on the floor of the Chamber. There should be Wiradjuri people where I stand right now, telling their truth to these motions.

We are literally persecuting First Nations people for practising cultural fishing on the South Coast. People are going to jail because they want to fish for themselves and their families as they have done for tens of thousands of years. Last week a court case was launched to sue the Government for the persecution of First Nations people for wanting to eat food. Members have to be really honest about this. Recently the Gomeroi took Santos and the Government to court because they do not want their land in the Pilliga smashed anymore.

This Government is committed to a treaty. As the Hon. Stephen Lawrence has said, part of that treaty is a truth‑telling process that will go hand in hand. Along with many allies, I celebrate that and hope it will commence the real work in this State to turn things around for First Nations justice. There is no justice in this State until we are firmly on the path of First Nations justice.

We are literally destroying Aboriginal cultural heritage on a daily basis. I do not think I can point to one permit that has been refused by this Government, or those that came before it, as it would destroy cultural heritage in this State. I do not think can I find one. I can find hundreds and hundreds granted every year that permit the holder to continue to wantonly destroy the cultural heritage of First Nations people. We need to turn this around. I commend the members who moved these motions, but more so I commend the Wiradjuri people who have come today. They are working hard at every level in the community to get this project off the ground for truth‑telling of the history of the war, the frontier, the fight and the genocidal experience they have survived.

But we have to do better because the Wiradjuri are doing brilliantly right now on every level of speaking truth to power. That is not just happening in this Chamber today; it is happening in their homes, on their streets, in their communities and where we are continuing to experience the brutal weight that this colony continues to impose on First Nations people. That is just the way it is right now. Every bit of data, statistic and policy that we have has a disproportionately unjust impact on First Nations people.

We can and will celebrate the bicentenary, and I am pleased that these motions have brought some truth. Those of us who are committed to truth will continue to do everything we can. Clearly, there are people in this Parliament who are not committed to telling truth, and that is an insult to this place, but we will champion that truth along with Wiradjuri people and First Nations people all across this State. I commend and thank them. I really hope the motions go some way towards assisting them in their pursuit of this part of the project.

The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM (16:00): In reply: I thank all honourable members for their contributions. Another famous Bathurst resident Prime Minister Ben Chifley once famously said, "If an idea is worth fighting for, no matter the penalty, fight for the right, and truth and justice will prevail." Let us act to ensure that maxim prevails and that, despite the loss of the Voice referendum, the movement for closing the gap, treaty, justice, reconciliation and some of the things Ms Sue Higginson mentioned persist and are successful for our First Nations people.

It is possible we have had the Voice, Treaty, Truth process backwards. I believe with a greater emphasis on the truth-telling as urged in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, we would more readily accept and support the need for treaty and voice. An integral way to advance that notion is to build a permanent Wiradjuri cultural truth‑telling and learning facility and Frontier Wars memorial in Bathurst so that Wiradjuri culture, language and our incredible and confronting history—some of which I have inadequately shared today—can be shared, built upon and kept in perpetuity. That idea is supported by the Bathurst Regional Council and in the review of the Heritage Act by the Standing Committee on Social Issues.

Another way forward is to continue to use the courage of this remarkable House and its bicentenary to recognise the interconnectedness of our history and for the House of Macarthur, Blaxland and Suttor to consult with the Wiradjuri traditional owners and ensure our interconnected story is part of our commemorations. In more recent times this House has done good work on reconciliation. In 1999 the Hon. Meredith Burgmann succeeded in securing the Reconciliation Wall, a beautiful installation in the Fountain Court. The 2013 inquiry into Bowraville contributed to the healing in that community. And in 2017 the Legislative Council accepted a message stick from Aboriginal Elders during the Hon. Sarah Mitchell's introduction of the Aboriginal Languages Act.

I again acknowledge those who have insisted on making today happen, including the Wiradjuri traditional owners who join us today, my colleague the Hon. Stephen Lawrence, Stephen Gapps, David Marr, Paul Daley, Mayor of Bathurst Jess Jennings, Mr President, the Clerk and the Usher of the Black Rod, our Aboriginal liaison officer John Braddick, the Hon. Leslie Williams, and Ministers Harris and Sharpe. I now read some of Windradyne's eulogy written by George Suttor under the pseudonym "Colo" for the Sydney papers at the time of the great warrior's death in 1829. It states:

Sir,

This a short biographical sketch of the native Bathurst chief Windrodine. On Saturday, 21st of the present March, this chief paid the debt of nature; he fell in a sharp fight sub noctera on the banks of the Macquarie, with a tribe from the South. Several lives were lost, and two chiefs were laid por de combat, on the field of battle. He was buried, his body wrapped in his mantle, and his weapons deposited in that grave which now contains all that remains of Windrodine, once the terror of the surrounding woods, his wide domain assigned to him by the sovereign hand of nature.

He was a man who never suffered an injury with impunity, in his estimation revenge was virtue, his head, his countenance, indeed his whole person, which was admirable. I have often observed, with pleasure, his kindness to the women and children of his tribe, particularly to those that were sick; Windrodine professed the healing art, and a knowledge of potent spells among his sable countrymen. Five hundred acres of land was at one time offered for his head, but he surrendered, and was introduced to Sir Thomas Brisbane, at Parramatta, where he excited a great deal of curiosity: he resided a short time in the domain there, and the kindness shown to him then seemed to have operated on his mind in favour of the colonists, for ever since he has avoided any act of violence to them, though it may be supposed his high and independent spirit felt uneasy at times at seeing his country possessed by the white fellows, as the aborigines call us. It is to be lamented that the imprudence, and too often cruelty of the Europeans, has heretofore given too much cause of revenge among the native tribes, when we consider the materials, the British nation has sent among them.

That fitting obituary concludes with the Roman maxim on equality "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto." It means "I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me." I conclude by stating the five principles of Wiradjuri lore, Yindyamarra, the Wiradjuri way: give respect, to do slowly, be polite, be gentle, and always have honour. Those are values the Legislative Council and all of us would do well to live by.

The PRESIDENT: The question is that the motions be agreed to.

Motions agreed to.